Berklee Blogs introduces Valerie Teicher, a Music Business major and spring intern, as she begins her internship at BMG Chrysalis, a rights management company representing publishing and recording rights, as well as at The Windish Agency, an independent NYC booking agency serving musicians, bands and DJs. In today’s blog, Valerie tells us about the importance of demonstrating your value both inside and outside the classroom…

As my time at both BMG Chrysalis and The Windish Agency is nearing its last month, I am keen to see how the experiences turn out, and what next step they will lead me toward. Although as mentioned in my previous entry, I am not counting on a job offer at either of these places come May, I am certain that I will come out with experience and contacts that will guide me in a good path.

What I have found the most valuable being in a city like New York and interning at companies like these is that there is opportunity all around you. This is not to say that there are necessarily job openings or a career waiting for you to take it, but in the same way that there is always something going on in the New York City, there is always something to be a part of on a deeper level. I have stumbled into a variety of very rewarding opportunities in the creative sense just by being here and being surrounded by like-minded people, and I know that when a real career opportunity comes by, it will be due to these, rather than necessarily a resume, or a GPA.

That said, I am glad that in my time at Berklee I did everything I could to create the best education for myself and strived to do well in my classes and uphold my scholarship. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Berklee provided me with, and each experience builds onto the next—I can see how Berklee allowed me to even pursue these internship opportunities, and now these internships will allow me to move forward into a starting career, somehow.

As I continue to move forward in these internships, I aim to step up my game in terms of seeking chances to stand out and prove myself as a driven and hard-working person. I think that I have done a good job of demonstrating this consistently throughout, but I will definitely do all I can to make this last month an educational and rewarding ending. I hope to strengthen and solidify positive relationships and connections at both work environments, and show my eagerness to continue learning.

I do however want to also show that I can be more than an intern, and that I am at a point in my life where I believe I have the adequate skills and attitude to be taken seriously and considered for a full-time position. I think that a good mentality to end both internships with will be the balance between demonstrating what a strong intern I can be, while being assertive and showing that I am ready and capable of much more.

BioValerie Teicher is a singer-songwriter and music business student from Vancouver, Canada. Originally from Bogota Colombia and having lived in several places throughout her life, she has a diverse background with a wide range of influences and interests. Having switched paths from studying psychology at McGill University in Montreal, Valerie attended the summer program at Berklee and was granted a scholarship for full-time study. Since then, she has immersed herself in the business major and has continued to build on her songwriting and performance skills. She is currently finishing her last semester, completing two internships in New York City at The Windish Agency and BMG Chrysalis, while working on her first EP as a solo artist.